


Misunderstanding.

by Spannah339



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Blood, Dad Hank, Gen, simon the dog whisperer, sumo is a Good Boy™, who knows how to tag not me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-23
Updated: 2018-07-23
Packaged: 2019-06-14 21:51:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,561
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15398256
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spannah339/pseuds/Spannah339
Summary: Also known as the Jericho crew break into Hank's house, kidnap Connor and steal his dog.





	Misunderstanding.

The case had gone smoothly, a warehouse full of android smugglers taken down and about ten suspects in custody. Connor had just finished one last sweep of the building while the case was being cleaned up and the last of the suspects brought into custody.

He was moving across the floor towards Hank when a noise caught his attention. He turned in time to see a car, speeding towards him, one of the last suspects at the wheel. There was no time to react before it slammed into him.

Warning messages blared across his vision as he was thrown back. He hit the ground with a loud thump, stunned for a moment. Before he could get up, the car slammed into him again, running over his arm with another flurry of warnings. Then it was gone, leaving Connor unable to move.  _(painpainpainpain)_

He couldn’t breathe – something was blocking his air flow. The warning messages were distracting, but the pain didn’t allow him to get a good look at them. His vision was flickering red and everything hurt.

Then Hank was there, his voice sounding far away as he gently lifted Connor. Something wet trickled down his chin – thirium.

He coughed, sending a spray of the blue blood bursting from his mouth. That was what had been blocking his air flow. He couldn’t focus.

Hank was talking, his voice cutting in and out.

“Talk to me kid. What do I do?”

He forced himself to calm, to push aside the pain for a moment. He slowly began working his way through the warning notices, gathering an idea of what was wrong _(painpainpainpain)._

_> >>RIGHT ARM UNFUNCTIONAL. REPLACEMENT RECOMMENDED. _

_> >>THIRIUM LEAKAGE. REST CYCLE RECOMMENDED. _

_> >>SENSORY UNIT: DAMAGED. REST CYCLE RECOMMENDED. _

_> >>HEART UNIT: DAMAGED. INTERNAL THIRIUM BLEEDING. REPLACEMENT VITAL. _

_> >>THIRIUM LEVELS: 90%. DROPPING AT A RATE OF 1% PER MINUTE. _

_> >>DIAGNOSTIC: HEART REPLACEMENT NEEDED TO CONTINUE FUNCTIONING._

“Connor. Stay with me!” Hank was calling and Connor forced himself to focus on the shape of the lieutenant’s face hovering above him. He scrabbled weakly at Hank’s shirt, wanting to stay grounded. Wanting comfort.

“Heart,” he managed to gasp out, more thirium spattering Hank. The thirium was being pumped into his throat, into his body.

“Heart? What about your heart kid?” Hank sounded stressed, his voice strained. “We need to get you home, alright?” Connor nodded, gripping onto Hank with his working arm. Home. Home sounded nice right now.

Hank struggled to his feet, taking Connor’s weight over his shoulder. Connor tried to stand, but the world was spinning and thirium was dripping into his eyes – not to mention the warning messages that flared every time he moved.

_(painpainpainpain)_

He barely registered the trip home. Somehow he got into the car, and somehow he left the car. But as Hank helped him towards the house, the pain suddenly stopped.

The relief was so intense Connor let out a gasp. Hank turned to him.

“You good?” he asked, worriedly. Connor nodded, feeling better already. He wasn’t doing well – but without the pain distracting him he was already functioning at a preferable rate.

“Yeah,” he said, spitting out more thirium. The internal bleeding was the most worrying of his problems, caused by his damaged heart. “My pain sensors have stopped working,” he explained to Hank as the older man unlocked the door. Sumo greeted them, following them as Hank lowered Connor onto the sofa.

“So you can’t feel anything?” Hank asked. Connor shook his head, dismissing the warnings that brought up.

_> >>THIRIUM LEVELS: 70% DROPPING AT A RATE OF 1% PER MINUTE. REFILL RECOMMENDED. _

“I can still feel,” he said, but as he did he realised everything felt… different – lighter. Like it almost wasn’t there. His touch sensor was not functioning well.

Nothing a rest cycle wouldn’t fix – so long as he had sufficient thirium.

“You’re bleeding bad,” Hank said as Connor wiped his mouth. He was getting blood everywhere.

“My heart has been damaged,” he said. “I’m experiencing internal bleeding – until my heart is replaced I will continue to bleed.” He suddenly started coughing violently and Hank darted to his side. He bent over and spewed a large among of thirium onto Hank’s carpet.

“The hell was that?” Hank asked as Connor wiped his mouth again.

_> >>THIRIUM LEVELS: 50%. DROPPING AT A RATE OF 1% PER MINUTE. REFILL VITAL. _

He was starting to feel dizzy – the lack of thirium affecting him.

“I inhaled thirium. Air is used for speech and cooling my systems. Thirium entering that part of my system could be dangerous and I needed to remove it.”

Hank cursed violently.

“What do you need?” he asked.

Connor blinked, struggling to focus again.

“I need thirium. And... new heart.” His own was beating weakly, spreading his lifeblood where it wasn’t supposed to go.

“I can do thirium,” Hank said. “But where the hell do I get a new heart?”

Connor stared at him for a good minute before what he had asked sunk in. His systems were starting to shut down to accommodate the low level of blood.

“Connor?” Hank asked and he lifted his head, shaking it quickly. That was a mistake – more warnings blinked at the edges of his vision.

“I don’t… I don’t know,” he muttered. “There may be some parts at the station or…” He was struggling to remain focused, distracted by the blinking warnings. “Or Jericho.”

Hank cursed again.

“I can’t leave you here alone,” he muttered. Connor lifted his head with some effort and forced a smile.

“I’ll be alright,” he said. “I have Sumo.” The dog let out a quiet bark at his name, wagging his tail. Hank cursed again.

“I won’t be long, okay?” he said. “I’ll get you your thirium and then go.” He stood, and Connor was suddenly aware of the mess of blood surrounding him. He grabbed weakly at Hank’s arm.

“Making a mess,” he muttered.

“What? No, you’re fine,” Hank said, but Connor shook his head. He didn’t want Hank’s house to be covered with blood.

“Bath,” he managed out, coughing again. He looked up at Hank, wishing he would understand. “Bath. Less mess.”

“It’s alright, I don’t mind,” Hank said but he must have seen the desperation in Connor’s eyes because he sighed. “Alright, if you insist.” He gently picked up Connor and carried him through the house, lowering him into the bathtub. Connor felt himself relax, knowing he wasn’t making a huge mess in Hank’s living room.

“You sure you’ll be alright?” Hank asked, and Connor nodded.

_> >>THIRIUM LEVELS: 45%. DROPPING AT A RATE OF 1% PER MINUTE. REFILL VITAL. _

“Need the heart,” he muttered. Hank cursed.

“Alright. I won’t be long.” He left the room, returning a second later with a few bags of thirium. “I don’t like this,” he muttered.

“I’ll be okay,” Connor muttered, reaching for the thirium. Hank watched him drink it, then sighed.

“Alright.” Then he was gone.

_> >>THIRIUM LEVELS: 47%. DROPPING AT A RATE OF 1% PER MINUTE. REFILL VITAL. _   
_> >>HEART REPLACEMENT VITAL. _

The thirium was going straight to his heart and then out again. If he didn’t get a replacement heart soon, he would reach dangerously low thirium levels.

He reached for another bag, hoping to keep his levels up but as he did the pain returned. He let out a loud gasp, causing Sumo to appear suddenly beside the bath. Tears pricked his eyes as the pain enveloped everything, and he felt himself blacking out.

 

~*~*~ 

 

Markus waited outside the door, tapping his foot slightly as a frown began to cover his face. Connor had invited them over to meet Sumo and see where he was living just two days before – why wasn’t he answering? If something had come up he would have told them.

“Maybe they got caught up on a case?” Josh suggested. Markus nodded slowly – that would be the most likely explanation.

“Yeah, maybe. I’ll give it another five minutes and then call him,” Markus answered. He glanced over to where North was trying to peer through the windows.

“North, that’s invading their privacy,” Simon said. North shot him a glare.

“Maybe their privacy needs to be invaded.” She frowned, moving slightly. “Cause I’m pretty sure that’s blue blood.”

 _That_ caught Markus’ attention. He and the others quickly moved to the window North had been looking through and peered through as well. Sure enough, the sofa was covered with a splattering of thirium – a lot for a simple wound one would expect to get in police work.

The same thought flashed through the four androids. They all knew of Lieutenant Anderson’s anti-android past. Markus had been reluctant to let his friend stay with the Lieutenant, but Connor had assured him Hank had come round.

Now, Markus wished he had done something more.

“We need to get in there,” North said and the others nodded – all completely in agreement for once.

It didn’t take long to shatter one of the windows. Markus dropped to the floor, wary in case Anderson was still here. He suddenly wished he had brought a weapon and was slightly relieved - and not overly surprised - to see North withdraw a gun as she leapt through the window.

The house was unnaturally quiet. Markus surveyed the blood, wishing he had Connor’s fancy analysing tools to make sure it was Connor’s blood. Then Josh gave a shout from down the hall. Markus looked up to see his friend, his eyes wide, point into one of the rooms.

He stood and quickly joined Josh to look into the bathroom. What he saw caused him to curse under his breath.

Connor was lying limp in the bathtub, eyes closed and seemingly shut down. He was covered in blue blood – blood that was pumping slowly out of a large gash in his chest and bubbling from his mouth. One arm seemed to be reaching uselessly towards a bag of thirium, while the other hung limply at his side.

A large dog was standing beside the bath, eyeing the newcomers with obvious suspicion. When Markus stepped forward the dog let out a low growl, baring its teeth.

“It’s alright,” Simon, who was behind Markus, said. He stepped forward, dropping to a knee and holding a hand out to the dog. “We’re here to help.”

The dog didn’t respond, still watching them closely.

“Sumo, right?” Simon asked. “We’re Connor’s friends. We won’t hurt him.” His calm voice allowed him to get close to the dog, and he gently ran his hand through its fur. He nodded to Markus, who moved quickly to Connor’s side.

The police android was not in a good state. He had obviously lost a lot of thirium – and that was only what Markus could see at a first glance. Undoubtedly there would be more wounds less obvious.

“We need to get him out of here,” Josh said, and Markus nodded in agreement.

“No sign of the lieutenant,” North called from the house. Markus couldn’t help but be glad of that.

He gently picked Connor up, ignoring the blood that escaped his lips and splattered onto his coat. The dog looked up from where Simon was playing with him and gave a low, warning bark.

“It’s alright,” Simon said, gently patting the dog. “We won’t hurt him.” The dog followed them as Markus carried Connor through the house and outside.

“We can’t leave the dog here,” Simon said as Markus lowered Connor into their car. Connor groaned, reached weakly with one hand. Josh slid into the seat beside him, making sure he was comfortable and safe.

“We can’t steal Anderson’s dog,” Markus said, looking back at the Saint Bernard.

“Why not?” Simon asked. “Look what he did to Connor.” He glanced at the bloodied android, scowling slightly.

“I really don’t think that dog is gonna leave Connor anyway,” North said. Sure enough, the dog was trying to leap into the car, kept at bay only by Josh gently pushing him back.

“Fine,” Markus muttered, and Sumo was allowed to bound into the car. He sprang into the vehicle and gave Connor a few protective licks before settling at the wounded android’s feet.

Once everyone was safely in the car, Markus began to drive, thoughts rushing through his head as he sped through the streets. What had happened? How long had Connor been lying in that bathtub – how long had the lieutenant been abusing him? Why hadn’t he said anything? He was so focused on getting his friend to safety he didn’t even notice the red lights he ran.

“He needs thirium stat,” Josh said as they arrived and Markus nodded. He carried Connor quickly towards the hospital that had been set up, Sumo at his heels.

It didn’t take long to set Connor up. He was losing thirium so quickly they could barely keep up, even with an IV drip regularly supplying him. The dog refused to leave his side and had leapt up onto the bed Connor was lying on, leaning his head on Connor’s leg. Markus leaned against the wall, closing his eyes and trying to decide what to do next.

“We can’t let him get away with doing that!” North cried, pulling him out of his thoughts. He sighed, opening his eyes and looking around his friends. North was pacing the room angrily, Josh standing beside the bed and Simon was sitting, running his hands through Sumo’s fur.

“What can we do?” Josh asked. “We’ve already broken into his house and stole his dog – what else do you want us to do?”

“Something more!” North growled.

“We can’t do anything, North,” Markus said. “Getting Connor out and safe is enough.” North scowled but didn’t argue, crossing her arms.

“We don’t even know the whole story yet,” Josh said. “We could be reading this very wrong.”

“I think it’s pretty clear what happened,” North muttered. “Anderson busted him up real good.”

“Maybe,” Simon said. His attention was focused on Sumo, who was still watching Connor worriedly.

“What do you mean, ‘ _maybe_?’” North demanded, spinning on him. “It’s obvious! I told Connor not to trust that bastard.”

“Alright, that’s enough,” Markus said. Connor shifted, groaning and coughing up a small amount of thirium. “We can’t do anything for him now – so I suggest we leave him to rest.”

“I’ll see if I can find the parts he needs,” Josh said, and left the room after a grateful nod from Markus.

“I’ll stay with him,” Simon said. North seemed reluctant to leave but allowed Markus to guide her out of the room.

“Let me go and teach him a lesson,” she said. “I won’t kill him or anything, just show him what happens to those who mess with us.”

“No North. I’m not going to let you do that. Connor’s safe – we don’t need to worry about Anderson anymore.”

North scowled but didn’t say any more about the matter. Markus made a mental note to keep track of her over the next few days. Then again, if she did go to teach Anderson a lesson behind his back he wouldn’t be overly upset.

It was about half an hour later, in which time Josh had managed to find a replacement part for Connor, that an android stuck his head through the door.

Markus was back in Connor’s room, making sure he was alright and the replacement heart was working well enough. Everything seemed to be in order – Connor was still very out of it, his thirium levels still dangerously low, but he would recover.

“Markus?” the android asked, and he turned. “There’s a human at the gate – you’d better come quick before North murders him. She doesn’t seem happy.”

“Go,” Simon said. He hadn’t moved since Connor had arrived, making sure both he and the dog were comfortable. Markus nodded and quickly made his way to the door of the hospital.

North was standing in the door, a gun trained on Lieutenant Anderson who was standing at the foot of the stairs, hands raised. Markus clenched his fists, angry that he had dared to chase after Connor.

“Where is he?” Anderson demanded, anger seeping from his form.

“He’s safe,” North spat back. “And there is no way you are getting anywhere near him.”

“You broke into my house, kidnapped Connor, stole my dog and now you’re not even letting me see him?”

“I don’t think you deserve to go anywhere near him after what you did to him,” Markus called, laying a hand on North’s arm. She reluctantly lowered the gun, but he could feel she was still tense.

“What?” The anger seemed to fade a little and Anderson seemed more confused than anything else. “You think I…”

“What else would have happened?” North demanded. She turned to Markus, lowering her voice. “Let me shoot him, Markus. He’s scum of the earth, doesn’t deserve to live.”

“We’re not shooting anyone,” Markus replied. Anderson was muttering under his breath and began to pace. But before he could speak, Josh burst out of the door.

“Markus, come quick, he’s waking up but we can’t calm him,” he said, sounding slightly panicked.

“I’m coming,” Markus said. He shot a warning glance at North and rushed back into the building.

“Just tell me he’s alright!” Anderson’s shout that followed him was so desperate he began to wonder if they had jumped to a conclusion perhaps a little too fast.

Connor was thrashing in his bed despite Simon’s efforts to keep him calm. His eyes were flicking open and shut and blue blood was flying from his mouth. Sumo had jumped off the bed but was still close, whining softly.

“Connor, you’re okay,” Markus called, rushing to his side and trying to pin him down. If he kept thrashing like that he was going to damage himself even more.

“Hank!” Connor cried, his voice sounding watery as it forced its way past the thirium trapped in his throat. He suddenly started coughing, blue blood spraying everywhere. “..nk!”

“You’re safe Connor,” Simon said, his voice sounding strained. “He’s not going to hurt you anymore.”

But Connor didn’t calm, still thrashing and coughing. Markus was at a loss as to what to do. He didn’t know how to calm Connor – something that needed to be done soon. Before he inhaled too much of the blood in his mouth. He had to take a risk.

“Josh, let Anderson in,” he called over his shoulder. Simon looked up at him from over Connor’s thrashing form.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” he asked.

“No. But we have no other option.” He grunted as Connor’s working arm hit him across the head. “And if we don’t do something soon he’ll die.”

Anderson was there in less than five minutes, bursting into the room. He swore, moving to Connor’s side and laying a hand on his shoulders.

“I’m here kid,” he said as Connor called his name again. “I’ve got you.”

To Markus’ surprise, Connor began to calm down. His thrashing slowed, his panicked breathing settled. He weakly grabbed at Hank’s shirt with his good hand, muttering something as he did.

“I’ve got you, son,” Hank said again. He sat down at on the bed and looked up at Markus, who blinked, unsure of what to say.

“It seems we made a mistake,” Josh said quietly. Sumo moved to Hank’s side and woofed at him, accepting the pat Anderson gave him.

“Good boy,” he muttered to the dog, before turning to the androids standing before him. North had joined them, still eyeing him closely. “I would _never_ hurt him,” Anderson said firmly, and Markus believed him.

“We’ll leave you two be then,” Markus said. North opened her mouth to protest, but Markus shot her a glare and she quieted. The four androids left the room, leaving the small family to be alone.

 

Connor opened his eyes, running a diagnostic as he became fully aware of his surroundings. His heart had been replaced - his thirium levels stable. There were still a number of repairs that needed to be done - he could tell by the pain still throbbing through his body - but he was in a stable condition.

He turned his attention to the room he found himself in. It was a small room, in what looked like a hospital. Sumo was lying on the bed beside him, his warm body pressing into Connor’s leg. Hank was sleeping in a chair beside the bed.

Connor coughed, ridding his airways of the last of the thirium he had inhaled. Hank shifted at the sound, waking and turning to face him.

“Hello, Hank,” he said, his voice still a little weak. Hank smiled softly at him.

“Hey, kid. How’re you feeling?” he asked.

“Much better.” Connor frowned, trying to figure out how he had got here. He had a vague memory of Markus but he couldn’t remember clearly.

“Where are we?”

“Markus and his friends brought you to New Jericho to fix you up - they’ll have you up and running again in no time,” Hank explained.

Connor nodded and closed his eyes again. He hadn’t fully completed a rest cycle and he needed a lot more than one cycle to fix himself. He felt his nonessential systems shutting off as his body prepared to undergo more repairs.

“You’re gonna be okay, son,” he heard Hank say before he fully shut down, his repair system already going to work.


End file.
